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March 28, 2013

India is unlikely to bill Russia for the delay in the delivery of the refitted aircraft carrier Vikramaditya caused by engine problems last year, said Viktor Komardin, Deputy General Director of Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport.

The Vikramaditya, which is already years behind its original 2008
delivery date, was supposed to have been handed over on December 4,
2012, but sea trials in September revealed that the ship's boilers were
not fully functional.

“In theory, India has the right to do so [to impose a fine]. But we
believe that we will find a mutually beneficial solution to this problem
in a friendly atmosphere. Actually, we already have, but for now, we’re
saying that we will,” Komardin said at LIMA-2013 (Langkawi
International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition) in Malaysia.

The contract for aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (former Russian Project 11434 aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Gorshkov)
was signed by Russia and India in 2004. Then the contract cost $1.5
bln. India received the carrier for free but paid that money only for
the ship's repair and modernization, as well as air wing consisting of
fighters MiG-29K/KUB and helicopters Ka-28/31. The parties revised contractual terms in 2009, and the contract cost increased up to $2.3 bln.

March 27, 2013

Reclusive North Korea is
to cut the last channel of communications with the South because war
could break out at "any moment", it said on Wednesday, days of after
warning the United States and South Korea of nuclear attack.

The move is the latest in a series of bellicose threats from North Korea in response to new UN sanctions
imposed after its third nuclear test in February and to "hostile"
military drills under way joining the United States and South Korea.

The North has already stopped responding to calls on the hotline to the US military that supervises the heavily armed demilitarized zone (DMZ) and the Red Cross line that has been used by the governments of both sides.

"Under the situation where a war may break out at any moment, there is
no need to keep north-south military communications which were laid
between the militaries of both sides," the North's KCNA news agency
quoted a military spokesman as saying.

"There do not exist any
dialogue channel and communications means between the DPRK and the US
and between the north and the south."

Despite the shrill
rhetoric, few believe North Korea, formally known as the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), will risk starting a full-out war.

North and South Korea are still technically at war anyway after their
1950-53 civil conflict ended with an armistice, not a treaty, which the
North says it has since torn to pieces.

The "dialogue channel"
is used on a daily basis to process South Koreans who work in the
Kaesong industrial project where 123 South Korean firms employ more than
50,000 North Koreans to make household goods.

About 120 South Koreans are stationed at Kaesong at any one time on average.

It is the last remaining joint project in operation between the two
Koreas after South Korea cut off most aid and trade in response to
Pyongyang's shooting of a South Korean tourist and the sinking of a
South Korean naval vessel blamed on the North.

Kaesong is one
of North Korea's few hard currency earners, producing $2 billion a year
in trade with the South, and Pyongyang is unlikely to close it except as
a last resort.

The North's military spokesman representing its
"supreme command" did not mention Kaesong, which has suffered temporary
shutdowns before.

The South's government said it would take steps to ensure the safety of the workers at Kaesong. It did not elaborate.

In a major step towards indigenisation and making the Navy self-reliant,
the third anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette, designed under the
ambitious Project-28 (P-28) by the Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design,
was launched in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Aimed at enhancing the Navy’s underwater warfare capabilities, the
warship, in a first of its kind, will be fitted with indigenous
state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, including a medium range gun,
torpedo tube launchers, rocket launchers and close-in weapon system.

Being built by one of India’s leading shipbuilders, Garden Reach
Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd. (GRSE), it has been named after an
island — Kiltan — in the Lakshwadweep archipelago of India. It was
launched by Chitra Joshi, wife of the Navy Chief Admiral D. K. Joshi.
Admiral Joshi and Chairman and Managing Director of GRSE Rear Admiral
(retd.) A.K. Verma were present.

With nearly 90% indigenisation content, the building of the corvette was a major initiative, Navy officials said.

The first GRSE-built ASW corvette, Kamorta, is expected to be delivered
to the Navy by this year-end. It was launched on April 19, 2010 and had
suffered a delay of nearly one year.

The remaining ships, according to GRSE, will be delivered by 2016. The
fourth ASW corvette will be launched in 2014 and built, fitted and
tested and delivered to the Navy in little over 20 months, the officials
said.

Technological landmark

While lauding the efforts of GRSE in detail designing of the ship,
Admiral Joshi singled out its technological landmark, as being the first
ship in the country built with a composite superstructure of carbon
fibre composite material, which will be successfully integrated with the
main hull. Besides reducing the top weight, it would provide improved
stealth features and reduce life cycle maintenance costs.

The hull form would be highly efficient with excellent sea-keeping and
manoeuvrability characteristics having an overall length of 109 metres.
The ship can cut through the sea at a very high speed of 25 knots. The
advanced stealth features would make it less susceptible to detection
and help in effective deployment of soft kill measures.

The Navy Chief said global economic slowdown had opened up opportunities
for India’s defence ship-building yards. Economic recession had led to
shutdown of many companies and the surplus capacities were being shifted
to emerging economies like India.

Admiral Joshi said the ultimate test would be the country’s ability to export its products.

Out of 42 orders given by the Navy, 40 were being built indigenously by
public or private sector enterprises. “Today, the Indian Navy and the
Coast Guard have huge requirement of ships and the same are required to
be produced without any time and cost overrun. Timely delivery of
quality ships is the need of the hour. Modern shipbuilding technology
and tools must be adopted to achieve this objective,” Admiral Joshi
said.

March 26, 2013

(RIA Novosti) – North Korea said on Tuesday it had ordered its
strategic rocket and long-range artillery units to target US military
bases on Guam, Hawaii and mainland America, Reuters reported.
The North's KCNA news agency said “supreme command” had ordered the units to assume "combat duty posture No. 1."
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said, however, that it had seen no signs of an imminent attack.
The order is the latest in a series of fiery statements from isolated, nuclear-armed North Korea since joint military drills by the United States and South Korea began on March 11. The North threatened the United States with “pre-emptive nuclear strikes” earlier this month.
North Korea is not believed to have the capability to hit the continental United States with an atomic weapon.
But the US military's bases in the Pacific area are in range of its medium-range missiles, Reuters reported.
Analysts believe a direct North Korean attack is extremely unlikely,
especially during the drills, which conclude on April 30. But the rival
Koreas have had several bloody naval skirmishes in disputed Yellow Sea
waters and there's some concern among analysts about a provocation after
the drills, Associated Press reported.
Tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula in the aftermath of
North Korea's third nuclear test on February 12. The test sparked harsh
international condemnation and led to new UN sanctions against
Pyongyang.

Slowly but steadily, India's new futuristic naval base
is beginning to take concrete shape on the eastern seaboard. The
strategic base, with an eye firmly on China, will eventually even have
underground pens or bunkers to protect nuclear submarines both from spy
satellites and enemy air attacks.

Sources said a
flurry of discussions and meetings have been held in the PMO and defence
ministry over the last couple of months to firm up "expansion plans''
for a base located near Rambilli called "Project Varsha" on the Andhra
coast — just about 50 km from the Eastern Naval Command headquarters at Visakhapatnam — over the coming decade.

Though it's still very early days for Project Varsha,
some bill it as an answer to China's massive underground nuclear
submarine base at Yalong on the southernmost tip of Hainan Island, which
houses its new Shang-class SSNs (nuclear-powered attack submarines) and
the Jin-class SSBNs (nuclear-powered submarines with long-range nuclear
missiles).

Although land acquisitions and incremental
development work on the base under the secretive project kicked off a
few years ago, it is set to take off in a major way with the
construction of tunnels, jetties, depots, workshops and accommodation.
"Further land acquisitions for the sprawling base to be spread over 20
sq km are now underway, with long-term budget allocations also being
planned,'' said a source.

The endeavour dovetails into the
overall policy to bolster force-levels on the eastern seaboard, with new
warships, aircraft and spy drones as well as forward-operating (FOBs)
and operational turnaround (OTR) bases, to counter China's expanding
footprint in the entire Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Naval assets to protect India's long coastline and keep watch over the
crucial trade corridors in the Indian Ocean are essential to Indian
interests. The strategic value of force projection beyond the Andaman
islands is seen in terms of deterrence as well given the aggressive
military Chinese expansion.
India's own SSBN programme is also poised to turn the corner soon with
sea trials of the 6,000-tonne INS Arihant slated to begin off
Visakhapatnam. INS Arihant and its three "follow-on'' SSBNs, which will
complete India's elusive nuclear weapon triad since they will be armed
with the `K' series of submarine-launched ballistic missiles, as well as
other frontline warships will be housed at the new base.

The
Navy plans to operate at least three SSBNs and six SSNs in the long run
for effective nuclear deterrence. Moreover, after inducting the
8,140-tonne INS Chakra submarine on a 10-year lease from Russia last
year, India is now negotiating the lease of another such nuclear-powered
Akula-II class submarine, as was earlier reported by TOI.

Project Varsha's ambitious scale in the years ahead will rival the
expansive "Project Seabird'' under which the Karwar naval base has come
up in coastal Karnataka to give India both strategic depth and
operational flexibility on the western seaboard against Pakistan. While
Karwar will decongest the over-crowded Mumbai port, the new base will do
the same for Vizag on the east.

Karwar can currently base 11
major warships and 10 yard-craft after completion of its Phase-I at a
cost of Rs 2,629 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had last
year approved Rs 13,000 crore for its expansion under Phase-IIA to
ensure it can berth 32 major warships and submarines by 2018-19.

Karwar will be the home base for aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, the
44,570-tonne Admiral Gorshkov being refitted in Russia for $2.33
billion, as well as the six French Scorpene submarines being built at
Mazagon Docks for Rs 23,562 crore.

March 25, 2013

To enhance the Army's
firepower, the government has approved a Rs 1,500 crore proposal for
production of more than 2,000 rockets for the Pinaka multi- barrel
weapons system. The Army requires more than 2,000 of these rockets to equip its 10-12 regiments comprising the Pinaka launchers.

A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, has given a nod to the proposal moved by the
Defence Ministry for upgrading the capabilities of the Ordnance Factory
Board (OFB) for producing these rockets, sources told PTI here.

As per the proposal, OFB, under the Department of Defence Production,
will upgrade facilities at nine of its factories engaged in the
production of Pinaka rockets, they said.

With a focus on indigenisation to avoid scams in acquisition of foreign
military hardware, the Defence Ministry has also decided to pump in Rs
15,000 crore to augment domestic military production.

The major plans of OFB include augmentation of production capabilities
for T-90 and T-72 tanks, engines for armoured vehicles and setting up of
155mm howitzer production plants.

The Ministry's Department of Defence Production has decided to hike the
allocation from Rs 583 crore during the 11th Plan period to Rs 15,000
crore for modernisation of the production capabilities of OFB during the
current Plan.

After the recent VVIP chopper scam, Defence Minister A K Antony had
stated that indigenous defence production was the only answer to avoid
such scandals. The Ministry would change policies in that regard, he had
said.

OFB list includes upgrading of 130mm M46 field artillery guns to 155mm
45 calibre standard, development of 155mm 52 calibre mounted howitzers
and integration of the 105mm field guns on BMP combat vehicles.

India plans to purchase a
record number of mini and micro unmanned air systems (UAS) for its
airforce and the army’s northern command. The two first competitions are
aimed at selecting 100 micro UAS systems for the Indian airforce and
for the selection of 20 mini UAS systems for thearmy\s northern command

But this is only the beginning.
Israeli sources say that in the coming 3 years the Indian defence
establishment , will issues 5 additional tenders for the purchase of a
total of

600 mini UAS systems aimed to be operated by the Indian infantry , artillery, airforce and federal police units.

These contracts are valued at 1.25 billion U.S $ and production will have to be only in India

At least two Israeli companies
will participate in the planned competitions .Elbit systems will compete
with its SkyLark series UAS , while BlueBird will offer its SpyLite

March 23, 2013

The DRDO today said its
sustained efforts have helped in reducing the content of imports in
defence acquisitions from 70 per cent to 45 per cent.

"DRDO's sustained efforts, supported by various stakeholders have
brought down the import content of defence acquisitions from 70 per cent
to around 45 per cent," the premier defence research agency said in a
press release.

The claim by the DRDO comes at a time when the Defence Ministry is
working with a renewed vigour to increase indigenisation to avoid scams
in military procurement from foreign sourcesThe DRDO said during the
conference of its directors tomorrow to be inaugurated by Defence
Minister A K Antony, it will hold round-table discussions on the need to
enhance the participation of private sector, with a view to accelerate
indigenisation.
The conference will cover topics related to long term requirements of
our armed forces and a technology development plan, meeting these
requirements in the broader perspective of emerging technologies.

"The associated manufacturing technologies required to translate
technological developments into quality products will also be the
subject of discussion," the release said.

Round-table discussions would also be held to look at the future
threat scenarios and the technologies required to meet the associated
challenges, it said.

March 21, 2013

The utter lack of
long-term strategic planning in the Indian defence establishment was
once again evident on Wednesday when the country for the first time
tested the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from
underwater.

The submarine-launched version of the missile was
"successfully" tested from an underwater pontoon off Visakhapatnam
around 2.10pm. BrahMos chief A Sivathanu Pillai promptly declared, "The
missile is fully ready for fitment in the 'Project-75 India' submarines
of the Indian Navy
in vertical launch configuration, which will make the platform
(submarine) one of the most powerful weapon platform in the world."

Defence minister A K Antony also chipped in soon after by saying, "It's
a wonderful achievement and proud moment for India." DRDO chief V K
Saraswat said it was "a significant step towards boosting India's
military strength". Other defence scientists proclaimed this was "first
time any supersonic cruise missile has been launched vertically from a
submerged platform".

Amid all these gushing accolades, they however forgot to mention one critical fact: the Project-75 India
submarines are nothing but a mere pipedream at present. With even the
initial global tender or RFP (request for proposal) for them yet to be
floated, the Navy will not get the first such submarine anytime before
2023.

"What's the use of having bullets but no gun to fire them
from? Even if the defence ministry gets cracking immediately on the
long-delayed P-75I, it will take three to four years to select the
foreign submarine-manufacturer for technological collaboration.
Thereafter, it will take another seven to eight years for the first
submarine to roll out," said a senior official.

The BrahMos missile
cannot be fitted on the Navy's existing fleet of 10 ageing Russian
Kilo-class and four German HDW submarines, half of them in any case are
fully operational at any given time. Nor can it be deployed on the six
French Scorpene submarines being constructed in the Rs 23,562-crore
Project-75 underway at Mazagon Docks (MDL) in Mumbai, under which the
vessels will now be delivered in the 2015-2020 timeframe three years
behind schedule.

Project-75 India, in turn, has failed to take
off after going around in circles for several years now. The Cabinet
committee on security will have to clear the RFP before it is issued
because two of the submarines have to imported from the foreign vendor
finally selected. Three will subsequently be built at MDL, and the last
at Hindustan Shipyard at Visakhapatnam, after transfer of technology.

All this of course does not detract from the utility of the
air-breathing BrahMos, which flies at the speed of Mach 2.8, as a
"precision strike weapon". It has been inducted by some artillery
regiments in the Army as well as a few naval warships.

The Army
is moving ahead to induct three versions of the multi-role BrahMos,
having already placed orders worth Rs 9,484 crore, over the next
two-three years. Navy and IAF, in turn, have ordered BrahMos missiles
worth Rs 3,568 crore and Rs 1,295 crore, respectively, as of now.

March 20, 2013

India today
successfully carried out the maiden test firing of the over 290km-range
submarine-launched version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile in the Bay of Bengal — becoming the first country in the world to have this capability.

The submarine-launched version of BrahMos was successfully test-fired
from an underwater pontoon near here, BrahMos CEO A Sivathanu Pillai
told PTI.

This is the first test-firing of an underwater
supersonic cruise missile anywhere in the world and the missile
travelled its complete range of over 290km, he said.

He said the performance of the missile during the test launch was "perfect".

Ship and ground-launched versions of the missile have been successfully
tested and put into service with the Indian Army and the Navy.

The maiden test of the submarine-launched version of BrahMos comes over
a week after the indigenously built long-range subsonic cruise missile
Nirbhay failed to hit its target in its first test.

"BrahMos
missile is fully ready for fitment in submarines in vertical launch
configuration which will make the platform one of the most powerful
weapon platforms in the world," Pillai said.

Defence minister A K Antony
congratulated DRDO scientists and Russian specialists along with
officers of the Indian Navy associated with the project for successful
test launch of missile from an underwater platform.

March 18, 2013

(RIA Novosti) - Work is in progress on the newest fifth-generation
nuclear-powered and diesel submarines at Russia's Rubin Central Design
Bureau, Rubin head Igor Vilnit said on Monday.
The Russian Navy currently relies on third-generation submarines with fourth-generation subs of the Yury Dolgoruky (Project 955 Borey) and St. Petersburg (Project 677 Lada) class just beginning to be adopted for service.
In addition to Rubin, Defense Ministry research centers and the Navy
Institute, as well as Rubin’s partners and contractors, are currently
working to develop a basic design of the fifth-generation submarine.
The new submarine will have a service life of about 50 years, he said.
The fifth generation will be distinguished by its lowered noise,
automated control systems, reactor safety, and long-range weapons.
The Defense Ministry previously said Russia is planning to develop
its fifth-generation submarine by 2020 under a 2011-2020 arms
procurement program, to be armed with both ballistic and cruise
missiles.

March 16, 2013

(RIA Novosti) - Russia’s Ufa-based engine maker will deliver the first 10 of 920 AL-31FP engines for the Su-30MKI Flanker-H to India before the end of March, the manufacturer said on Friday.
The contract with India, the largest one with a foreign client in
post-Soviet history, was signed last October, and engine deliveries are
to be completed by 2022.
Under a 2000 general contract for licensed manufacturing of 140
Su-30MKI air superiority fighters and AL-31FP engines, India had an
option of buying an additional number of aircraft engines.
In 2007, the Indian Air Force ordered an additional 40 MKIs. As of
January 2013, the IAF had 157 Su-30MKIs in service and it plans to have a
fleet of 272.
The Ufa engine manufacturing association is Russia’s largest aircraft
engine producer. It produces aircraft engines for Su and MiG family
fighters and spare parts, as well as engines for automobiles, gas pumps
and turbines, and provides maintenance and support services.

The Trikand, the last in a
series of three frigates that Russia is building for India, has
completed contractor sea trials and is preparing for state sea trials,
an official said.

The frigate is being built at the Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad exclave, said Sergei Mikhailov, a spokesman for the shipyard.

He said the trials of the Trikand frigate in the Baltic Sea began Feb 5 and were completed March 14.

"Within this period, the vessel carried out five voyages in the Baltic Sea, each lasting several days," Mikhailov said.

The Trikand is currently at the Baltiisk port, preparing for state sea
trials. It is scheduled to join the Indian Navy in the summer of 2013.

Russia and India signed a $1.6 billion contract on the construction of
three modified Krivak III class (also known as Talwar class) guided
missile frigates for India in 2006.

The first frigate, INS Teg, joined the Indian Navy April 27, 2012, and the second, The Tarkash, arrived in Mumbai Dec 30, 2012.

The frigates are each armed with eight BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles.

They are also equipped with a 100-mm gun, a Shtil surface-to-air
missile system, two Kashtan air-defence gun/missile systems, two twin
533-mm torpedo launchers and an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter.

March 15, 2013

After the Nerpa or INS Chakra, the partly-completed Project 971 vessel
would be the Indian Navy’s second nuclear submarine from Russia.
India is in talks with Russia to finance
the completion of a nuclear submarine for the Indian Navy, a senior Russian
military official told RIA Novosti on Tuesday. After the Nerpa, which is being
leased by India, the partly-completed Project 971 (Class Schuka-B) vessel would
be the Indian Navy’s second nuclear submarine.
In 2012, Russia leased out the Nerpa (now
called the INS Chakra) to India for a 10-year period for $930 million. Thanks
to India's financial support, the submarine was completed at the Amur shipyard
and then leased to the national navy.
“India has expressed interest in completing
the next vessel. The robust hull of the second sub is ready and waiting on the
stocks of the Amur plant. It is being well looked after,” said the military
spokesman. At the same time, he stressed that the completion of the second
nuclear submarine requires an inter-governmental agreement between India and
Russia. “The issue is being worked out. As in the first case, it might be
leased out, not sold,” said the source for RIA Novosti.
India has yet to comment on the matter
publicly.
The Nerpa belongs to the third generation
of submarines. It was berthed at the Amur shipyard in Komsomolsk-na-Amure in
1991. However, in the mid 1990s, funding was frozen and the vessel could only
be completed with India's assistance.
The submarine has a displacement of
8140/12770 metric tonnes, a top speed of 30 knots, a maximum depth of 600
metres, an endurance of 100 days, a crew of 73 people, and is armed with four
533-mm torpedo launchers.
With the lease of the Nerpa, India became
the sixth operator of nuclear submarines in the world, after the United States,
Russia, France, Britain and China.
India’s domestically-designed INS Arihant
nuclear submarine is expected to be ready for operational deployment this year
after final sea trials

March 14, 2013

State-run Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) will develop an advanced
aerostat and communication system to meet the surveillance and
reconnaissance needs of the Indian armed forces, an official said
Wednesday.Floated as a set of balloons in the shape of
an inflated aircraft, the helium-filled aerostats are used for providing
radar platform to ground forces. When tethered into a strategic
position at a pre-determined height above ground, they double as
communication relay systems for the forces.

The Bangalore-based
defence behemoth has recently entered into a technology partnership with
the US-based electronics major TCOM for jointly designing and
developing the aerostat systems.

"The partnership with TCOM will
augment the surveillance capabilities of our defence services, security
services and law-enforcement agencies with costs-effective aerostat
surveillance and communication systems," BEL director S.K. Sharma said
in a statement here.

As a world leader in lighter-than-air
technologies, TCOM designs and manufactures a range of aerostat systems
for multiple applications, with laminate fabric material for long
endurance and surveillance operations.

The agreement makes BEL
the prime bidder to address the aerostat-based intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance requirements of the Indian armed
services and security agencies.

"The partnership reinforces our
commitment to the Indian defence industry and allows us to provide
cost-effective ISR solutions to the Indian military," TCOM chairman and
managing director John Saverino said in the statement.

March 12, 2013

India's first indigenously developed sub-sonic cruise missile
'Nirbhay' today failed to hit the target in its maiden test-firing as it
had to be terminated mid-way after deviating from the flight course.
However, the DRDO said the missile "successfully" met the basic
mission objectives and performed some of the manouveres satisfactorily
before being terminated mid way.
"Nirbhay was successfully launched today at 11.50 am from launch
complex, Chandipur, Odisha, meeting the basic mission objectives
successfully.
"After travelling approximately mid-way, deviations were observed
from its intended course. Further, flight was terminated to ensure
coastal safety," DRDO spokesman Ravi Gupta said in a release.
The surface-to-surface sub-sonic cruise missile has the
capability of being launched from land, sea and air, they said, adding
Nirbhay has good loitering capability, good control and guidance, high
degree of accuracy in terms of impact and very good stealth features.
Nirbhay was developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment
(ADE), a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory
based in Bangalore in understood to have a strike-range of around 1,500
km.
India has the technology of super-sonic missile like BrahMos which is jointly developed by India and Russia.
BrahMos has a strike range of 290 km.

(RIA Novosti) – The Russian Navy will receive 24 submarines and 54
warships of various classes by 2020, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said
on Monday.
“As a result of the implementation of the state rearmament program to
2020, the navy should receive eight nuclear-powered strategic
submarines, 16 multirole submarines and 54 warships of various classes,”
Shoigu said at a Defense Ministry meeting .
The eight strategic missile boats include three Borey and five Borey-A class vessels (SSBN) armed with Bulava ballistic missiles.
The 16 multi-purpose submarines include eight Graney class
nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN) and improved Kilo and Lada class
diesel-electric (SSK) boats.
In addition to submarines, the navy will receive Admiral Gorshkov
class frigates and Steregushchy class corvettes, Buyan class corvettes
and Ivan Gren Class large landing ships.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year that the procurement
of new warships and submarines for the Navy would be a priority over the
next decade. The Russian government has allocated five trillion rubles
($166 bln) or a quarter of the entire armament procurement budget until
2020 for this purpose.

From this June onwards, India will finally begin to add some real strategic airlift muscle. IAF's
capability to swiftly transport combat troops and war-fighting
equipment to distant battle-fronts will be hugely bolstered with the
induction of the gigantic C-17 Globemaster-III aircraft.

Under the largest defence deal inked with the US till now, the 10 C-17
aircraft contracted for $4.1 billion in mid-2011 will begin to touchdown
in India in June. All 10 will be place at the Hindon airbase, on the
outskirts of New Delhi, by June 2015. ``IAF pilots and technicians are
being trained in batches in the US to operate the aircraft, even as the
infrastructure comes up in Hindon,'' said an official.

Defence minister A K Antony on Monday also told Lok Sabha that the C-17s
were ``capable of conveying combat units and their equipment'', with a
load of 70-tonne, to a distance of 4,200-km ``in a single hop''. With a
40-tonne load, the range can be extended to 9,000-km.

"This
coupled with a short turnaround time and modern avionics allows the
C-17s to be deployed rapidly to any place within our areas of interest.
The procurement of C-17 aircraft will enhance the strategic airlift
capability of IAF," added Antony.

The use of ``our areas of
interest'' is significant since, as per the defence establishment,
India's ``primary areas of geo-strategic interest'' stretches from
Persian Gulf right across to Malacca Strait. India is likely to go in
for another six C-17s after the first 10 as a follow-on contract, much
like it is now ordering another six C-130J ``Super Hercules'' tactical
airlift aircraft after inducting the first six from US in a $1.2 billion
contract.

While the first six C-130Js in the 77 `Veiled
Vipers' Squadron are based at Hindon, like the C-17s will be, the next
six will be located at Panagarh in West Bengal to take care of the
eastern sector with China. The new mountain strike corps to be raised by
the Army, at cost of Rs 81,000-crore over the 12th (2012-2017) and 13th
Plans (2017-2022), is also to have its headquarters in Panagarh.

Both the rugged C-17s and C-130Js can land even at small forward
airbases on semi-prepared runways, which will be crucial for India to
counter China's massive build-up of military infrastructure all along
the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control, which includes an extensive rail
and road network as well as five fully-operational new airbases in
Tibet.

The four-engine C-17s, for instance, are capable of
transporting tanks and troops after taking off from a mere 7,000-feet
airstrip. At present, IAF has just a dozen Russian-origin IL-76 `Gajraj'
aircraft, with its medium-lift fleet comprising 103 Russian AN-32
aircraft and the six C-130Js. The C-17s and the C-130Js will come into
play with India progressively upgrading ``advanced landing grounds''
along the border with China, especially in eastern Ladakh.

India says it will go ahead with its program to buy 197 Light Utility
Helicopters for its defense forces, contrary to speculation that the
AgustaWestland bribery scandal had forced the government to put the
much-awaited deal on hold.
“The proposal for acquisition of 197
Light Utility Helicopters is due for consideration of the Defense
Acquisition Council [DAC]. The procurement procedure has been conducted
in accordance with the Defense Procurement Procedure,” Defense Minister
A.K. Antony says.
The Eurocopter AS 350 Fennec and Russian Kamov
226 Sergei are the finalists for the 197 aircraft buy. The helos will go
to the Indian army and air force.
The DAC, chaired by Antony,
will meet soon to finalize the deal to purchase the reconnaissance and
surveillance helicopters, which are estimated to cost about $1.5
billion, a defense ministry official says. The DAC deferred a decision
on the LUH last month, without providing specifics.
The DAC
announced the deferment just hours after the Indian government ordered a
federal probe into alleged corruption in the sale of 12 AW101 VVIP
helicopters to the Indian air force by AgustaWestland, the helicopter
company owned by Italy’s Finmeccanica.
Though the government
didn’t link the Finmeccanica controversy to the procurement delay, a
senior defense ministry official said that since there was a vestige of
suspicion in the whole project, the government had decided to re-examine
the proposal. Complaints were recently received about alleged
deviations in tender norms during user trials of the participating
companies in 2010.
However, Antony said March 6 that “no formal
inquiry has been instituted in the case of procurement of the 197 Light
Utility Helicopters.”
AgustaWestland was also in contention for the deal, but was eliminated in the early stages on technical grounds.
Both
Eurocopter and Russian Helicopters have been awaiting a final decision.
The European company recently asked the defense ministry about the
tender’s progress.
n 2007, the defense ministry canceled a previous deal with Eurocopter
for light utility helos following allegations that bidders had failed
to follow competition guidelines. A new request for proposals was issued
in 2008, and flight tests of the two competing helos were completed in
December 2010.
The Indian army and IAF need the light helicopters
to replace their aging fleet of vintage Cheetah and Chetak aircraft,
which are critical for providing supplies to troops deployed to Siachen
Glacier, the world’s highest battlefield, and other high-altitude areas.
Eurocopter has offered to establish a production facility in India if the company wins the contract.
“If
we win the contract it makes sense to set up a production facility here
[in India], as these helos will be flown for the next 20 to 40 years
and it’s important for the country to maintain them,” Eurocopter CEO
Lutz Bertling said during the recent Aero India show.

March 9, 2013

The United States vowed to
aggressively defend itself and its allies after North Korea furiously
threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the US in the face of
sanctions handed down by the United Nations (UN) Security Council on
Thursday.
“I can tell you that the United States is fully capable of defending
against any North Korean ballistic missile attack,” said White House
press secretary Jay Carney to reporters on Thursday, adding that
Pyongyang “will achieve nothing by threats or provocations which will
only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to
achieve peace and stability.”The threat
– in which North Korea referred to the sanctions as part of a “war of
aggression” led by the United States – came from a spokesman for the
North Korean Foreign Ministry immediately before the Security Council
voted on the sanctions.
In a statement carried by North Korea’s official news agency, the
spokesman said, “Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear
war, we will be exercising our right to pre-emptive nuclear attack
against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our
supreme interest."
Such inflammatory rhetoric is not uncommon from North Korea, but
Thursday’s comments were among the most specific threats of a nuclear
strike by any country. A nuclear attack on the United States would be
nothing short of suicidal, said the new chairman of the US Senate
Foreign Relations Committee.
"I do not think the regime in Pyongyang wants to commit suicide, but
that, as they must surely know, would be the result of any attack on the
United States," said Sen. Bob Menendez on Thursday as the UN vote was
underway.
“There should be no doubt about our determination, willingness, and
capability to neutralize and counter any threat that North Korea may
present,” he said.
While most US experts do not believe North Korea has the
technological capacity to carry out a nuclear attack on Washington,
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the United States has
no choice but the take such comments seriously.
“You have to take a government at its word when it makes these kinds of threats,” she said at a press briefing on Thursday.
“This kind of rhetoric is not surprising, it’s not new, and
unfortunately this regime has regularly missed its opportunity to
improve its relations with the outside world,” she added.
The UN sanctions were handed down unanimously by the Security Council
in response to a third nuclear test by North Korea on February 12, a
move that violated UN resolutions.
The sanctions will increase scrutiny of suspicious North Korean sea
and air cargo shipments, make it tougher for North Korea to acquire
materials for its weapons program, and clamp down on financial freedoms
and luxury goods such as high-priced cars and yachts.
“These sanctions will bite and bite hard,” said Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the UN.
Russia, which currently holds the UN Security Council’s presidency, issued a statement Thursday
expressing hope that Pyongyang would take the new sanctions seriously
and halt further nuclear and ballistic missile development.
“We expect that all sides involved in the regional affairs would not
take any action that could aggravate the situation on the Korean
Peninsula and in northeastern Asia,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
North Korean leaders are also upset with joint military training
drills underway between the United States and South Korea, which they
have suggested are tantamount to an “open declaration of war.”
"The US is massively deploying armed forces for aggression… under the
smokescreen of 'annual drills'," said the North’s Foreign Ministry
spokesman on Thursday.
Both the United States and South Korea have characterized the training drills as defensive in nature.

March 8, 2013

The Indian armed forces appear ready to consider the Bell-Boeing V-22
Osprey as a possible future platform. What began as a preliminary
interest in the world's only operational tilt-rotor aircraft, has
blossomed into a specific set of missions that the Indian services have
flagged as possible future Osprey roles in India. While it has been
known for a while that the Indian Navy has shown preliminary interest in
the Osprey as a potential carrier-borne AEW&C platform (and
therefore for carrier on-board delivery), it is now known that the
Indian Air Force has asked for briefings on the aircraft for the combat
search & rescue (CSAR) and special forces roles.
The Indian forces have also flagged specific queries about the
V-22's ability to fly to the country's island territories in the Bay of
Bengal and Arabian Sea. The platform's unfuelled range has elicited
sharp interest. After acquiring the C-130J for the special operations
role, the IAF is now extremely keen on considering the hugely flexible
tilt-rotor role as it expands its special forces capability in tandem
with the Army.
IAF sources informed SP's, "After a
shaky start, the V-22 is now a proven platform with the US Marine Corps
and it has demonstrated its capabilities well in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We have requested preliminary information based on certain scenarios
which we have arrived at, which could possible be addressed by a
tilt-rotor aircraft like the V-22." A team from Bell and Boeing
held unofficial briefings with Indian armed forces officials at the
recently Aero India 2013 show in Bengaluru.

The US Marine Corps uses the V-22 for combat assault, amphibious
assault and sustained land operations, while the US Air Force CV-22 is
for for long-range special operations and contingency operations. The
Indian Air Force would be interested in all of these missions for a
possible special operations role in the future, as also for humanitarian
relief.

Once a dominant force in the Indian military
helicopter space, Russia is a dwindling force now. With a series of
crucial defeats in prestigious rotorcraft competitions in India, SP's
has learnt that Russian Helicopters JSC, the umbrella company that
markets Russian-built helicopters, has decided to revamp its strategy
and will shortly be brainstorming to roll out new plans as far as the
Indian market is concerned. Over the last decade, Russia has managed to
shore up orders for Mi-17-V5s: a $1.3-billion order for 80 in 2008—36 of
which have been delivered so far—a recent order for 12 more Mi-17-V5s
(three in VVIP configuration and 9 for the Indian Coast Guard) and is
expecting a follow-on order for 59 more such helicopters shortly from
the IAF. The IAF operates roughly 150-160 Mi-17s and Mi-8s. Next year,
the IAF will retire its entire fleet of Mi-8 helicopters, which have
reached the end of their technical life.
On the other hand, Russia has lost a slew of deals. In October last
year, the Russian Mi-28NE Night Hunter and Mi-26T2 lost crucial IAF
attack helicopter and heavy-lift helicopter competitions to Boeing's
AH-64D Apache Block III and CH-47F Chinook respectively. The country's
Ka-226T Sergei, currently in a pitched battle against the Eurocopter AS
550 C3 Fennec for the 197 reconnaissance and surveillance helicopter
(RSH) competition, could be disappointed given that the procurement is
reportedly in a state of indefinite drift, with a decision unlikely
anytime soon.
RusHeliCo's new strategy will include expanding into the civil
sector in a big way. Part of this includes pitching its platforms to
offshore operators in the energy sector, a market currently dominated by
Russia's competitors including AgustaWestland, Eurocopter and Sikorsky.
“We are involved in negotiations with them. Our helicopters operate
very well in harsh climates serving energy operators in our home
country,” Russian Helicopters HCS Chief Dmitry Petrov said at the Aero
India show in February.
The focus of this initiative will be the upgraded civil medium
Mi-171A2, the latest version of the Mi-8/17 series. "The Mi-171A2
combines the best performance of its legendary predecessors with
leading-edge technologies. Almost 200 Mi-8/17s operate in India, and
demand for these helicopters remains strong. Russian Helicopters
recently signed another contract for Mi-17V-5 helicopters with the
Indian Air Force; the contract is expected to be fulfilled in 2013,"
says the company. Signs of commitment towards the new strategy are
already showing.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India in December
2012, Russian Helicopters, and Elcom Systems Private Limited, part of
the Indian investment conglomerate SUN Group, entered into an agreement
to set up a modern manufacturing facility in India to produce Kamov and
Mi-brand helicopters. "The joint venture will have the capacity to
produce key helicopter units and carry out final assembly of the
machines as well as engage in ground and flight testing. It is expected
that the enterprise will start with production of components for the
multi-role Ka-226T helicopter. The enterprise will serve as an
industrial base for hi-tech Russian rotorcraft products in India," the
company has stated. “India is a traditional partner of Russian
Helicopters in terms of helicopter deliveries. The creation of a joint
Russian-Indian enterprise marks a new stage and also a logical
continuation of our joint efforts in light of the growing demand for
Russian helicopter models,” said Dmitry Petrov, CEO of Russian
Helicopters.
Apart from the civil strategy, Russian Helicopters plans to remain
on the sidelines of the current Indian competitions, in case New Delhi
decides otherwise

Russia and China are revitalising defence ties at a time when relations of both with the U.S. have run into rough waters

Russia is resuming the supply of advanced weapon platforms to China in a move that may have implications for India.

At
the end of last year, Russia concluded a framework agreement with China
for the sale of four Amur-1650 diesel submarines. In January it signed
another intergovernmental agreement for the supply of Russia’s latest
Su-35 long-range fighter planes.

If the deals go through, it will be for the first time in a decade that Russia has delivered offensive weapons to China.

It
will also mark the first time that Russia has supplied China with more
powerful weapon platforms compared with Russian-built systems India has
in its arsenals. In the past, the opposite was the rule.

For
example, the Su-30MKK jet fighters Russia sold to China were no match
for the Su-30MKIs supplied to India at about the same time. The Chinese
planes had an inferior radar and without the thrust vectoring engines
the Indian version had.

This time the situation looks
reversed. The Amur-1650 submarine is far more silent and powerful than
the Kilo-class submarines the Indian Navy has in its inventory. India’s
Su-30MKI will be no match for China’s Su-35 which is powered by a higher
thrust engine and boasts a more sophisticated radar, avionics and
weapons, according to a leading Russian military expert, Konstantin
Makienko.

China’s acquisition of the Su-35 will also question the wisdom of India’s plan to buy the French Rafale, the expert said.

“The
sale of Su-35s to China will shoot down the value of the Rafale for
India,” Mr. Makienko, who is deputy head of Russia’s top defence think
tank, Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, told The Hindu.

“The
Rafale will stand no chance against China’s Su-35,” the expert
explained. “The Su-35’s Irbis radar has more than twice the detection
range of the Rafale’s Thales RBE2, and will lock onto its target well
before the Russian plane becomes visible for a retaliatory strike. The
117S engines of the Su-35 are also far more powerful than the Rafale’s
Snecma M88.”

The Russian Air Force is just beginning
to take delivery of the new aircraft and China may become the first
country to import it. The relatively small number of Su-35s China plans
to buy, 24, should not deceive anyone, Mr. Makienko said. China followed
the same buying pattern for the Su-27, initially ordering 24 planes and
ending up with more than 200 Su-27s and its licence-built version, the
J-11.

The supply to China of more advanced weapon
platforms than those available to India appears to contradict some basic
geopolitical realities. India remains Russia’s most trusted partner
whose defence requirements have never been refused. By contrast, Russia
has always been apprehensive of the Chinese dragon and suspicious of its
intentions towards resource-rich and population-poor Siberia.

Calls for restraint

There
is consensus in the Russian strategic community that Moscow should
exercise maximum restraint in providing China with advanced military
technologies. Experts were shocked to find out that Chinese engineers
had mastered the production of clones of most weapon systems
cash-strapped Russia supplied to China in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Russian
arms sales to China plummeted in recent years as China switched to
domestic production, while Moscow became more cautious in offering
Beijing cutting-edge technologies. Not only did China illegally copy
Russian weapon systems, but it also began to export those undercutting
Russian sales of higher-priced original platforms.

Some
experts even called for a complete halt to arms sales to China, arguing
that demographic pressures and a growing need of resources may one day
push China to turn Russian weapons against Russia.

“We
should stop selling them the rope to hang us with,” warned Alexander
Khramchikhin of the Institute for Political and Military Analysis.

However,
the risks of selling advanced weapons to China took a back seat in
Moscow’s calculations after Vladimir Putin returned to the Kremlin for a
third term a year ago. Last year, Russia’s state arms exporter,
Rosoboronexport, signed contracts with China worth $2.1-billion, the
company’s head Anatoly Isaikin said recently. The renewal of
sophisticated weapon supplies to China should be seen in the context of
geopolitical games in the China-U.S.-Russia triangle.

“The
balance of power between America and China will to a large extend
depend on whether and on which side Russia will play,” said Fyodor
Lukyanov, foreign policy analyst.

Russia and China
are revitalising defence ties at a time when their relations with the
U.S. have run into rough waters. Moscow is deeply disappointed with Mr.
Obama’s policy of “reset,” which is seen in Moscow as a U.S. instrument
of winning unilateral concessions from Russia, while Beijing views Mr.
Obama’s strategic redeployment in the Asia-Pacific region as aimed at
containing China.

Profit motives

Russian
defence sales to China are also driven by profit motives as arms
manufacturers seek to compensate for the recent loss of several
lucrative contracts in India, where they face growing competition from
the U.S., Europe and Israel. Also, Moscow seems to be less concerned
today about the so-called “reverse engineering” of Russian weapons in
China as the ability of the Chinese industry to copy critical
technologies appears to have been overrated.

“China’s
programme of developing the J-11B family of aircraft based on the Su-27
platform has run into problems,” said Vasily Kashin, expert on China.
“China’s aircraft engines, which are essentially modified version of
Russian engines, are way too inferior to the originals and China
continues to depend on the supply of Russian engines.”

In
the past three-four years, China has bought over 1,000 aircraft engines
from Russia and is expected to place more orders in coming years.

“When
and if China succeeds in copying Russia’s new weapon platforms the
Russian industry will hopefully move ahead with new technologies,” Mr.
Kashin said.

India can also easily offset the advantage that new Russian arms supplies may give China, experts said.

“To
retain its edge in military aviation, India needs to speed up the
development of a 5th-generation fighter plane with Russia and go for
in-depth upgrade of its fleet of Su-30MKI fighters,” Mr. Makienko said.

Trade differences

However,
the resumption of massive Russian arms supplies to China could still be
a cause for concern in India. Closer defence ties between Moscow and
Beijing are an offshoot of strong dynamics of their overall relations.
China is Russia’s top commercial partner, with bilateral trade expected
to touch $90 billion this year and soar to $200 billion by 2020. Mr.
Putin has described China’s rise as “a chance to catch the Chinese wind
in the sails of our economy.”

This contrasts with
sluggish trade between India and Russia, which stood at $11 billion last
year; even the target of $20 billion the two governments set for 2015
falls short on ambition. India risks being eclipsed by China on the
Russian radar screens. As Russia’s top business daily Kommersant noted
recently, even today, Russian officials from top to bottom tend to look
at India with “drowsy apathy,” while Mr. Putin’s visit to India last
year was long on “meaningless protocol” and short on time and substance.

March 7, 2013

The desi version of
the original Swedish 155mm Bofors howitzers, which proved its worth by
wreaking havoc against Pakistani intruders during the 1999 Kargil
conflict, is now all set to plug huge operational gaps in the
long-range, high-volume firepower of the Army.

The defence ministry has placed an order worth over Rs 1,260-crore for acquisition of 114 of the artillery field guns developed by the Ordnance Factory Board
(OFB), which has used the designs obtained under the transfer of
technology (ToT) provisions in the infamous Rs 1,437-crore Bofors
contract of 1986 to develop the new guns.

The order is in tune
with defence minister A K Antony's latest directive, issued in the
aftermath of the bribery controversy in the VVIP helicopters' contract,
for a greater thrust on indigenization to avoid scams.

It will
also serve to "exorcise" the almost three-decade-old Bofors ghost -
which in later years got reinforced by scandals around other global
artillery manufacturers like South African Denel, Israeli Soltam and
Singapore Technology Kinetics (STK) - to ensure the Army failed to
induct even a single 155mm howitzer since the mid-1980s.

Under
the original Bofors contract, India had obtained ToT to indigenously
manufacture the howitzers after inducting 410 guns but the ensuing
scandal, which had led to the fall of the Rajiv Gandhi government, had
put paid to all such plans.

"Now, the OFB has worked on the
original drawings and electronically upgraded the guns to 45-calibre
from the original 39-calibre. The new howitzers have a 38-km range
compared to the 30-km of the Bofors gun," said an official.

OFB
has developed two prototypes of the 155mm\45-calibre guns, one with 68%
indigenous parts and the other with 46%, that have been "satisfactorily
tested in validation firings" in Pokran and Balasore over the last five
months.

The "letter of intent" for the 114 howitzers was
placed on the OFB "a couple of days ago" to ensure it can begin bulk
production after the "user-trials" in June.

The Army has
projected an initial requirement for 414 of these guns, each of which
will cost over Rs 11 crore, as part of its long-delayed artillery
modernization programme.

Interestingly, the other artillery
project on the verge of being inked — the $647 million contract for
acquisition of 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers (ULH) from the US - also
has a strong Bofors angle.

Though the ULH deal will be a direct
government-to-government deal, which is said to preclude kickbacks, the
155mm\39-calibre M-777s are manufactured by BAE Systems, which now owns
the original Bofors firm.

"It should be signed by April-May.
An Indian `maintainability evaluation team' visited the US from February
8 to 25 to examine the howitzers," said the official. The air-mobile
howitzers, capable of being swiftly deployed in forward areas by
helicopters and aircraft, are primarily meant for the high-altitude
areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh to counter China.

The
other 155mm\52-calibre artillery projects, in the overall Rs 30,000
crore artillery modernization plan, include the purchase of 100
self-propelled tracked guns from a foreign vendor and the development of
814 mounted gun systems through a joint venture with the private
sector.

But the biggest one is the over Rs 12,000-crore project
to buy 400 towed artillery guns, followed by indigenous manufacture of
another 1,180 such guns after transfer of technology from the foreign
vendor. This project has been derailed at least a couple of times in the
past, the last time after STK was blacklisted due to the corruption
scandal against former OFB chairman Sudipto Ghosh.

March 6, 2013

India may fancy
itself as a regional superpower but does not have an aircraft carrier
prowling on the high seas. Its solitary carrier, the 54-year-old INS
Viraat, is out of action for several months once again for a major refit
to ensure it can soldier on for another three to four years.

Despite the Indian Ocean
having emerged as the new strategic theatre between India and China,
the Indian politico-military establishment's lack of long-term planning
and timely decision-making has all but dashed the Navy's long-standing
ambition to deploy two potent carrier battle groups (CBGs).

China, in contrast, is taking huge strides in the arena. After last
year's commissioning of its first carrier, the 65,000-tonne Liaoning,
Beijing is furiously engaged in building more to further expand its
"blue-water operations''.

If China sees aircraft carriers as
"symbols of a great nation'', the US has realized their role in
projecting power around the globe for long. As part of its pivot towards
Asia-Pacific, at least six of the 11 American CBGs will be deployed in
the region. Incidentally, each US carrier is over 94,000 tonne and
capable of handling 80-90 fighters.

But the Indian Navy
is continuing to flog an old warhorse because of huge delays in other
carrier projects. One, Russia will deliver INS Vikramaditya, or the
44,570-tonne Admiral Gorshkov refurbished for $2.33 billion, only by
December at the earliest, a good two decades after India first showed
interest in it.

Two, Navy will not get its hands on the
40,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) being built at Cochin
Shipyard anytime before 2018. The follow-on 65,000-tonne IAC-II still
remains a mere pipedream.

Sources say the 28,000-tonne INS
Viraat, the second-hand HMS Hermes inducted by India in May 1987, is
currently undergoing "a normal refit'' that takes at least eight to nine
months. In the first phase at the Kochi dockyard, the 13-storey high
warship is undergoing "hull and other underwater work''. Next in Mumbai,
the ship will get its boilers, propulsions and other technical parts
overhauled.

"The plan was to operate INS Viraat, whose keel was
laid in 1944, for only 10 years after 1987. But fund crunches,
protracted negotiation and consequent refit of Gorshkov and huge delays
in launching the IAC project has meant INS Viraat has to be kept running,'' said a source.

INS Viraat has undergone a series of refits, with the last major
life-extension one being in 2008-2009. With age, it has also lost most
of its teeth. The Navy now has only 11 Sea Harrier jump-jets available
to operate from its deck, with no replacement of the fighters possible.

The irony is that while INS Viraat has just a few fighters left, India
is progressively inducting 45 MiG-29K fighters, ordered from Russia for
over $2 billion, meant for INS Vikramaditya
though the carrier itself is still awaited. In effect, India will have
two effective CBGs only when INS Vikramaditya and IAC can operate
together some time after 2018.

March 5, 2013

In the wake of Finmeccanica unit's AgustaWestland scam in India, the
UPA government today announced it would change its defence procurement
policy, which will be unveiled in a few months, says minister A K
Antony.
"Within a few months we are going to change the defence
procurement procedure again," Antony told the Lok Sabha during Question
Hour.
The defence procurement policy was revised as recently as 2011.
The Minister was replying to questions on the allegations of
kickbacks to the tune of Rs 362 crore in the Rs 3,600 crore deal to
procure 12 VVIP choppers from AgustaWestland.
His statement assumes significance as the government has come
under sharp attack over the chopper scam, with allegations that former
Air Chief S P Tyagi was a beneficiary in the kickbacks.
Antony said the government has to import defence equipment
because the Services require the most modern equipment to meet their
operational necessity.
"Because of the operational necessity of the Services, on the
request that they need the most modern equipment to meet the operational
necessity, government moves to import any high value equipment from
foreign sources," Antony said.
Dubbing indigenisation as the "ultimate solution to the scourge
of corruption", Antony said the government would give "more priority to
indigenisation so that Indian public sector and private sector can play a
major role in producing state-of-the-art equipment for the Indian
forces."
Referring to the CBI investigation in the VVIP chopper deal,
Antony said it would be early to opine on the extent to which this case
was likely to affect other defence deals in the pipeline.
Antony said India had also taken up with Britain the issue of
alleged involvement of a British consultant in the deal and the fact
that the contract had been signed with M/s AgustaWestland, UK.
"The UK side informed the Ministry of External Affairs that they
had not launched any investigation and were awaiting the results of the
Italian investigation in order to ascertain whether any further action
needs to be taken," he said.
The minister said AgustaWestland, UK has repeatedly denied any
wrongdoing on their part in the contract for the purchase of 12 VVIP
helicopters.
Antony said the procurement of the choppers was completed in
accordance with the established procurement procedure in a transparent
manner with all stages being followed meticulously.
"Three helicopters, delivered by the vendor, have so far been accepted after completion of Joint Receipt Inspection," he said.
Antony said the Ministry of Defence had taken prompt action to
seek factual information from authorities concerned after reports of
alleged kickbacks in the deal appeared in a section of the media.
"However, since no concrete information to substantiate the
allegations was forthcoming, no formal inquiry was then ordered," he
said.
Antony said after the reports of the arrest of Finmeccanica chief
Giuseppe Orsi, who was earlier the Chief Executive Officer of
AgustaWestland, appeared the Defence Ministry ordered a CBI inquiry into
the matter.
"The CBI, after a visit of its team to Italy and on further
examination of the documents available, has registered a Preliminary
Enquiry on February 25, 2013 in this matter against 11 persons including
five Indians and four firms which include two Indian firms," he said.

Should India have
simply gone in for new fighters rather than upgrading its 51
Mirage-2000s at an exorbitant cost? This question came to the fore once
again on Monday with defence minister AK Antony telling Parliament that the upgrade cost for each jet was Rs 167 crore.

This when the last lot of the French-origin Mirage-2000s - their
induction began in the mid-1980s - contracted by India in 2000 cost just
Rs 133 crore apiece. However, Antony, in a written reply to Lok Sabha,
said, "Applying an escalation of 3.5% per annum as per the pricing
policy review committee, to the contracted cost of the year 2000, it
works out to be Rs 195 crore at 2011 levels. Thus, the upgrade has been
undertaken at 85% of the aircraft's escalated cost."

However,
the Rs 167-crore figure does not give the full picture. The overall
upgrade programme of the Mirage-2000s is pegged at Rs 17,547 crore, with
the first two fighters being upgraded in France and the rest
(49) by Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) under transfer of technology (ToT).
If this figure is taken into account, then each Mirage upgrade will
cost Rs 344 crore.

India has inked two separate contracts in the upgrade programme, which kicked off last year with the help of French companies Dassault Aviation (aircraft manufacturer) and Thales (weapons systems integrator).

In July 2011, the upgrade programme was finalized at Rs 10,947 crore,
which included both the French and HAL work-shares. Then, early last
year, the second contract worth around Rs 6,600 crore for 490 advanced
fire-and-forget MICA (interception and aerial combat missiles) systems
to arm the fighters was finalized with French armament major MBDA. The
overall upgrade package may even cross the Rs 20,000 crore-mark over the
decade it will take to complete it, as earlier reported by TOI.

However, both MoD and IAF - down to just 34 fighter squadrons when over
44 are required to deter both Pakistan and China - maintain the upgrade
will ensure the multi-role Mirages become "virtually new fighters" that
will "remain current and potent" for over two decades more.

"Mirages have performed superbly since induction. IAF is going in for
new acquisitions, which take a long time in our circumstances, as well
as upgrades to retain its combat readiness," said an official.

Even as it progressively inducts 272 Sukhoi-30MKIs contracted for Rs
55,717 crore, IAF is also undertaking upgrade of its 63 MiG-29s at a
cost of $964 million deal inked with Russia in March, 2008.

The
force is also heavily banking upon the almost $20 billion MMRCA (medium
multi-role combat aircraft) project to acquire 126 French Rafale
fighters from Dassault, the final commercial negotiations for which are
now in progress.

China on Tuesday hiked its
defence budget by 10.7 per cent to USD 115.7 billion well above this
year's Indian defence spending of USD 37.4 billion.

The hike in the defence spending was announced as the Chinese legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC) opened its annual session, which this year also marks the once-in-a-decade power transfer.

As per the budgetary papers placed at the NPC, a sum of 720.168 billion
Yuan was allocated for defence, which at the current exchange rate
amounted to USD 115.7 billion.

The newly elected leader Xi Jinping and his fellow leaders would formally take over power from old guard headed by President Hu Jintao in the course of next ten days.

The budget proposals were announced by the outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao who presented a lengthy work report on the decade old achievements of his government.

The focus was mainly on the defence budget as China had officially
allocated USD 106.4 billion last year making it one of the top defence
spenders in the world.

The 10 per cent hike this year comes
when China is rapidly modernising its armed forces in the back drop of
deepening stand off with Japan over the disputed islands as well as differences with several South Asian Countries over the South China Sea.

China has already launched its first aircraft carrier last year as well
as several versions of new jet fighters including a stealth fighter
bracing to deal with big US military push into Asia pacific

March 4, 2013

The government is aware of China's military modernization
and infrastructure development along the Sino-India border and it
regularly reviews the threats to national security, defence minister A K Antony told the Lok Sabha today.

Development of infrastructure and operational capabilities to achieve
desired defence preparedness to safeguard sovereignty, territorial
integrity and security of India are an ongoing activity, he said in a
written reply.

The government "is aware of China's military modernisation and infrastructure development along the India-China border. Government reviews the threat perceptions which impact national security regularly and initiates required measures," he said.

On whether cases of intrusions by Chinese Army in Arunachal Pradesh
have come to light, he said such incidents are taken up through
established mechanisms.

"Along the border with China there are
sectors where both countries have differing perceptions of the border.
Both sides patrol upto their respective perceptions of the border or
Line of Actual Control (LAC)," he said.

Incidents of
transgressions are taken up with the Chinese side through established
mechanisms of Hot Lines, Flag Meetings, Border Personnel Meetings and
normal diplomatic channels, he said.

To a separate question on
the visit of a military delegation to China recently, Antony said, "The
purpose of these visits is to promote mutual trust and confidence
between both countries. On rail-road link upto
border areas, Antony said, the government has identified strategically
important border roads and railway lines for development for improving
the operational capabilities of the forces in phased manner.

About his tour of Myanmar in January this year, the minister said,
"During the visit, discussions were held with the Myanmar side on issues
relating to border management cooperation, armed forces interaction and
other defence and security matters of mutual interest."

March 1, 2013

Indigenously
developed 'Pinaka' rockets were successfully test-fired, on the second
consecutive day on Friday, from a multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) by
an armament establishment from a base in Odisha.

"Three rounds of Pinaka rockets
were successfully tested today from the base at Chandipur, about 15 km
from here, while three rounds had been fired yesterday," defence sources
said.

On January 30 and 31, this year, seven rounds of 'Pinaka' rockets were tested from the same base.

'Pinaka', which has undergone several tough tests since 1995, has already been inducted into the armed forces.

The trial was conducted by personnel from Armament Research and Development Establishment ( ARDE), Pune unit at Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE) firing point-2 at Chandipur, the sources said.

"The MBRL, capable of acting as a force-multiplier, has been developed to supplement artillery guns," a defence official said.

'Pinaka' is an area weapon system with a range of 40 km. The quick
reaction time and high rate of fire of the system gives an edge to the
army during a low-intensity conflict situation, he said.

The
unguided rocket system is meant to neutralise large areas with rapid
salvos. 'Pinaka' system can fire a salvo of 12 rockets in 44 seconds,
the sources said, adding that the battery of six launchers can
neutralise at a time a target area of 3.9 sq km.

The system's
capability to incorporate several types of warheads makes it deadly for
the enemy as it can even destroy solid structures and bunkers.

Among the major defence contracts in the pipeline is the order for 126 Rafale fighter jets from France.

Finance
Minister P. Chidambaram said: "I propose to increase the allocation for
defence to Rs 203,672 crore. This will include 86,741 crore for capital
expenditure. The Minister of Defence has been most understanding, and I
assure him and the House that constraints will not come in the way of
providing any additional requirement for the security of the nation."

And
with India currently negotiating a series of huge defence contracts,
analysts feel that even with the slight increase to US$37 billion, the
budget is still not sufficient.

Defence expert Bharat Verma
said: "First, the Indian defence budget is becoming a big joke in this
country because it cannot meet the requirement of the modernisation of
the Indian armed forces. There has been no modernisation in the last
three decades and it has fallen now to the lowest since 1996."

Despite
being criticised for a string of scandals involving defence contracts
in the past, the Indian government has taken a bold step of increasing
the military spending in the next fiscal year.

It is expected
that the subdued increase of 5.3 percent compared to last year's
double-digit hike will oblige the Defence Ministry to rationalise its
defence procurements with greater rigour in future.